Student experiences with Masters programs in Information Assurance?

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by kah1975, Oct 12, 2011.

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  1. kah1975

    kah1975 New Member

    I am looking for personal experiences/perceptions of the following NSA CAE approved MSIA programs:

    1) Boston U MS CIS-IA concentration

    2) NOVA MS CIS-IA concentration

    3) Capitol College MSIA

    4) Norwich U MSIA

    5) UMUC MSIA, MS Cybersecurity

    Any help would be appreciated!
     
  2. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!


    Honestly, I would think a CISSP certification is out ranked a Master in Information Assurance. The only the program I would think worth is Brandeis University's MS in Information Assurance.
     
  3. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    Assuming everything else is in place (certs, experience, etc), Boston and Norwich have prestigious history and they are expensive too. However, know that Boston is more technical (you probably need a computer science or CIS background to get in) than the IA program by Norwich. Capitol College offers a very good program also. If money is an issue, I would say Capitol is good, besides, they offer a doctorate in IA, which tells you how serious they take the IA field. Nova is also good, but you need a CS background (well, not quite a CS background, but their CIS prereq courses are commonly offered in CS programs). UMUC would be at the bottom of my list; 6 classes won't cut it if you are looking to cover all IA domains, not just IA management. In fact, I would pick the MS in Applied IT program offered by Towson University before I do UMUC. Overall, if money is not an issue, and if you care about prestige, then Boston should be at the top of your list. Goodluck with deciding....
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2011
  4. kah1975

    kah1975 New Member

    Wow, thanks Cyber for your detailed feedback on the mentioned schools. Here are my thoughts..
    -Boston is out, way too expensive
    -Norwich appears to be aimed at management versus technical (although seems to have strong alumni network)
    -UMUC is out too since its just not comprehensive enough

    I am still torn between Capitol and NOVA. I will be paying for this one out of pocket. Capitol is cheaper and I do like their curriculum. I am ok with any prereqs if needed (undergrad in biology, masters in org management, and 6+yrs IT). If you had to pick between the two schools, which offers more return on investment?
     
  5. dl_mba

    dl_mba Member

  6. Cyber

    Cyber New Member

    From a utility and ROI perspective, Nova's program is superior. However, know that Nova's CIS/Info security program requires 4 additional courses to the standard 14 for a total of 18 courses, which will increase the overall cost. Again, if money is not an issue, the CIS program is technical enough for entry into into a Computer science program, should you decide to go that route in the future, and that's what I really like about the program. Capitol's program, on the other hand, will be cheaper although it will limit you (to a certain degree) to the IA/IT field, which is not bad if you want to use it to work for the federal government; for example. So utility/ROI-wise, Nova. Affordability and coverage of all relevant IA field-wise, Capitol.
     
  7. ITJD

    ITJD Active Member

    I agree with your assessment in regards to cost. In fact, I came within a hair's length of starting this program recently.

    What I came to realize though is that IA is a very tight community and you either have people who have been doing it for years with certs or people who have been doing it for years with certs and degrees from very specific places. WGU hasn't been doing it long enough for them to have a decent alumni network in IA and that's a slant against the program.

    When in doubt about cost, go with a state school. Personally I'm surprised no one mentioned Dakota State. If you want reputation, go Carnegie Mellon. Otherwise the other schools are all great for the reasons already mentioned by people; personally I have preference for Boston and Norwich and wouldn't touch Nova or Capitol based on my experiences with admissions, but strong arguments could be made in their favor by those who like the schools.

    The key is qualifying your respondents by finding out who is doing what you want to be doing.
     
  8. Brain_Power

    Brain_Power New Member

  9. ryoder

    ryoder New Member

    The nice thing about WGU is that you can start now by getting your CCNA and that will transfer into WGU for real "credit".
    The same goes for some other certificates. Check out their degree plan and you will see that a lot of it is cert based. I bought the books for the CCNA and Certified Ethical Hacker and started studying them a while ago. Then I decided to do the MBA instead but thats history. I might go back and take the tests and then apply to WGU and see if I can knock out the whole thing in <6 months.
     

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